The present invention relates generally to support pads or pillows and, more specifically, to pillows for supporting infants during nursing.
Many mothers prefer to breast feed or nurse an infant. It is believed that mothers"" breast milk is more beneficial to an infant than artificial milk formulations or cow""s milk. Unfortunately, breast feeding an infant can be both uncomfortable and tiring. The infant must be supported in a position with its head near one breast for an extended period of time. The process may then be repeated with the other breast. Many infants, especially newborns, if supported directly on the lap of the mother, are not properly positioned for nursing. People have resorted to the use of pads and pillows to xe2x80x9cboostxe2x80x9d the infant into a better position during nursing. Also, a number of pillows or pads have been specifically designed for use during nursing. These pads or pillows typically consist of a cushion with substantially parallel upper and lower surfaces. The pad is placed with the lower surface on the mother""s lap and the infant is placed on the upper surface of the cushion. Some designs include a belt or waist strap to hold the front edge of the cushion against the mother""s stomach during use. Some pads are also large enough to support more than one infant at a time. However, currently available nursing support pads or pillows do not adequate address the need for supporting an infant during nursing.
The present invention provides a nursing pillow that improves upon the prior art. In one embodiment, the nursing pillow had a pair of side portions and a mid portion extending between the side portions. The mid portion has an upper surface that slopes downwardly from side-to-side such that an infant supported on the mid portion can be positioned with their head above their abdomen. The side portions preferably have upper surfaces that slope downwardly from the rear side of the pillow to the user side of the pillow for placing an infant in the football-hold nursing position. The lower surface of the mid portion is preferably also sloped such that the pillow may be turned over and the sloped lower surface becomes a sloped upper surface. The sloped upper and lower surfaces are configured such that when the pillow is turned over, the slope extends downwardly in an opposite direction from the non-turned-over position. The pillow preferably includes a supplemental wedge-shaped body that will mate with either the upper or lower surface such that when the supplemental pillow body is combined with the main pillow body, the upper and lower surface is generally flat. Numerous alternatives are also discussed hereinbelow.